Armenia doesn’t reach serious success in corruption fight in 2014

Armenia did not reach serious success in the fight against corruption this year, Director of Transparency International anti-corruption center in Armenia Varuzhan Oktanyan said today.

“The situation did not deteriorate, but we cannot speak about improvement either, although there are some signs of improvement,” he noted.

According to Oktanyan, among the main causes of corruption are fusion of business and political elites, many economic monopolies, and lack of judicial independence. 

“There are some grounds for optimism in Armenia because the authorities realize that the continuance is fraught with serious consequences. Yet Armenia’s geopolitical choice does not give grounds for optimism about the fight against corruption. By 2014 data, Eurasian Economic Union countries – Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are more corrupt than Armenia. It is naïve to think that Armenia will reduce its index after joining their union,” Oktanyan said.